The Bastard Son
by PaxtonProphet
Summary: When Rihannon Jankowski bores a son while her husband is deployed overseas, her eldest boy, Spencer, is left to wonder how as his family lights the powder keg of bitter dispute.


_AN~ My friend gave me this headcannon that I just HAD to put to paper (Or word document). This Headconnon pertains to the F.E.A.R. characters Redd and Spencer Jankowski and I find that it makes some sense. I hope you like it and I'm sure she does, too. (This IS going to be a multiple part deal, but not very long so I shouldn't get stressed out._

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 _When he heard his mother say those words it gave Spencer a strange kick in the side. He didn't understand it nor could he make any sense of how it was even remotely possible. "I'm pregnant," she had said. How could she be, though? Spencer's father was deployed overseas and had been for some months now. If it had happened before his deployment, it would've been noticeable, yet Rihannon Jankowski looked like her normal, bony self. Perhaps the baby was just small. That nieve little part of himself wanted to think so, but what other possibility was there? "Won't you like to have a baby brother or sister?" Rihannon had knelt down and was rubbing her son's arm affectionately. Spencer only smiled and nodded, but his mind was still lost on curious thoughts. They become more blaring. though, with the next words his mother said to him. "But don't tell aunt Missy or Grandma, okay? When the baby's born, it'll be a surprise." Spencer had nodded and agreed, but the secret was a hard one to keep, especially as months went by and his mother began to show the figure of her condition. She went out less and less to the point of being a recluse and leaving Spencer to worry. At one point, he'd lain in bed and honestly thought his mother a vampire. These qualms never rested. The secret was getting to be too much. Finally, after some time, he could keep it no longer. The first chance he got, he let it all out. It came when he was staying at his Grandmother's house for the weekend. His mother didn't even get out of the car to say hello when she dropped him off. She just wished him well and sped off before Leona could poke her head out of the door._

 _"Has your mamma been okay, Spen?" It came out like a dam bursting and flooding the valley below, releasing the heightened pressure that had dampened him for six months. He told her everything. Not just about the pregnancy, but about her behavior, her making him keep it hidden, and his curiosity over his father's absence. Leona listened, a stone expression upon her face, and, when he was done, snatched up her house phone and dialed Spencer's mother erratically. At first, he thought he was in trouble, but, listening to the conversation, found that very little of it was about him. At least he could be relaxed about that. "You were handed the best that the world could offer and you threw it away for some crack-pipe in that shithouse you call a shelter! I swear on my life, Rihannon, Shaun is going to know about this the SECOND I get off the phone! You should've killed that beast inside you when you had the chance! Then you go and put the burden of your fuck-up on Spencer? N- No, YOU listen to me! I don't want to hear it! Keep that monster because YOU will never see Spencer again! I guarantee it!" She slammed the phone back down on the jack before returned to the living room to see Spencer. He sat on the couch kicking his feet. "You'll be staying with me for a while, sweetie. Okay?" Spencer did as he always did; smiled and nodded._

 _That night, however, was one he looked back on forever as the worst night of his life. Just as she said she would, Leona called down to the center that she usually did to transfer her call to her son. The process was usually a slow one, but Spencer noted that, that night, it was slower than the norm. He guessed that his grandmother had been waiting on the line for over an hour and gave the woman props for it. When she set her mind to something, she was a wall of persistence... But, that second that Spencer saw the anger in her eyes melt away like ice in an oven, he clutched the banister of the stairs so hard that his knuckles went white. There, on the floor in front of the fireplace, Leona Jankowski lost ever ounce of composure left in her aging body, crumpled down, and... cried... No one needed to tell Spencer what had happened... He was young but he knew... Soon enough... they'd all know..._

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Now, Spencer sat in the hallway outside a Hospital room. With some convincing from his mother, Leona had let him come to the OR for Rhiannon's c-section. Spen wasn't sure what a 'c-section' was, but he knew that it was like giving birth, but different and meant that he'd get to meet his new sibling soon enough. With the way his family had been treating his mother for the last two months, Spencer was almost certain it was the ONLY time he'd get to see his sibling so he wanted to make this time count. His uncle, Richard, a stocky older man, sat next to him with a stern expression, but would smile if he happened to look his nephew's way and stroke his light black hair. Why didn't they like the baby? What did the baby do? Those questions were ones he was too scared to ask. 'Grown-up questions' he'd call them. They were questions that only grown-ups knew the answer to and he couldn't know until he was a grown-up, too. He'd learn someday. That was his only satisfaction.

From the swinging doors, a dark-skinned woman light-blue scrubs poked her head out and smiled wide at Spencer. She held the door open with one hand and had a towel in the other. "Wanna meet your brother?" she asked affectionately. Spencer beamed the brightest he'd ever had and quickly shuffled into the room after the nurse. He'd never seen a new-born baby, or a normal baby and the kids in his class would always talk about them in annoyance or spite. He told himself that his wasn't going to be 'broken' like that. He'd make sure that he wasn't. They made their way into a small room at the end of the hall where many people fussed around what looked like a box on wheels. The box was clear, though, and had two strange circled on the side. tubes and ire also sprung from the box like weird appendages from a squid. The nurse pulled up a little black stool and beckoned Spencer to climb onto it. Once he'd done so, he looked into the clear box and... gasped...

...There he was... So... small... and red... His skin was like the roses his mother grew outside their trailer... and he was squirming and screeching like a dying animal. Spencer turned to the nurse, expression vaguely worried. "Can I hold him? He's crying." The nurse gave a sympathetic smile, something so pathetic looking that it nearly hurt to look at.

"No, sweetie, I'm sorry. He has to stay in there for a while. He's a little sick. You can hold him in a week or two, though. He should be all better by then." Spencer looked back to the child, his brother. He was just so... strange...

"Does he have a fever? My mom says I get all red when I have a fever."

"No, babies are just like that. He should stop being red when he goes home. He's uncomfortable right now."

"Does he need a pillow?"

"No. Babies can't have pillows. He just needs to calm down. Tell you what; there IS something you can do. See those little holes right there?" Spencer looked at the black circles on the tank and nodded. "Those are special gloves you can use to touch him. Go on and use them. Just be gentle. His skin is really sensitive." He cautiously stuck his arms through the circles and felt them immediately become enveloped in a stretchy span of elastic. The large grabbers swallowed all the way up to his shoulders. Still, putting the awkwardness to the side, Spencer felt around in the over-sized covers and pressed a gentle caress to his brother's cheek. The reaction was almost instantaneous as the crying quieted but slightly and the wriggling creature clutched at the index finger of his right hand. "Now, look at that. He's saying 'hi.' I think he likes you already." Spencer responded to the remark with a simple smile and continued to gently stroke the puffy cheek of the newborn before him. He was so wrapped up in it, in fact, that he didn't notice the doctor that came in behind him until he clasped his shoulder. Spencer jerked a little and removed his hands from the gloves, listening with irritation as the wailing began again in louder volumes.

"Are you Spencer?" asked the brunet with a collected stance about him. The boy nodded, lips twitching in an attempted smile that only fell flat out of concern. "Well, Spencer, your mommy wants you to do something really important so you need to take this seriously, okay?" He nodded. "Alright, well, your mother told me... that she wants you to name your brother. You think you can handle that?" Spencer's eyes widened and he clasped his hands together behind his back, turning slightly to look over his shoulder at the wriggling baby he'd tried helplessly to comfort. He was so small, so weak, so incredibly soft that Spencer couldn't honestly think of anything... well... maybe he could. Spencer turned back to the doctor and, with a level voice, responded.

"His name is Red." There wasn't a single word thrown back at him; only a smile as the Doctor stood and left the room. Later, Spencer would bite with immaturity at the fact that they, the smart doctors, misspelled his brother's name on the certificate, but it stuck: Redd Jankowski. He could laugh at one thing, though: The nurse was wrong. His brother would NEVER stop being red.


End file.
